On the game’s first possession, Roy Hibbert caught the ball outside the paint as the shot clock wound down. With no other option, he let a shot fly.

Swish.

The Indiana Pacers desperately needed their All-Star center to find himself before it was too late, and he did.

Hibbert scored 28 points – a season high and one shy of his career playoff high – to lead the Pacers to an 86-82 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Indiana tied the second-round series, 1-1, with Game 3 coming in Washington on Friday.

After weeks of everyone questioning why Hibbert was letting down the Pacers, he carried them to victory. Indiana outscored Washington by 16 in his 33 minutes and got outscored by 12 in the other 15.

Thanks to Hibbert – who shot 10-for-13 and had nine rebounds and two blocks – not only did the Pacers at least temporarily right their season, their starters will avoid the type of criticism that had been coming Hibbert’s way.

Instead of discussing George Hill blowing an open layup, we’ll mention his dependable 14 points, second only to Hibbert among Pacers.

Instead of discussing Lance Stephenson shooting 3-for-12, we’ll mention his big shots – two 3-pointers within a minute in third quarter as the Pacers re-asserted their lead and a jumper with 21 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner.

Instead of discussing Paul George drifting too often, we’ll mention his big dunk in the final three minuets.

Instead of discussing David West fading to 3-of-8 shooting, we’ll mention him making both free throws with 10 seconds left to ice the game.

Hibbert changed the narrative.

What changed for him?

In Game 1, he had no points or rebounds. That followed overall dismal play against the Hawks, which followed a disturbing second half to the regular season.

“We just sat there, and we fished for a long time, and we didn’t even talk about basketball,” Hibbert said. “So, I think this one is really a tribute to Paul’s love and care for me as a friend and teammate.”

As this narrow win highlighted, though, the Pacers’ troubles run much deeper than Hibbert.

An on-track Hibbert got Indiana a narrow win in Game 2. If his teammates continue to play unevenly, that might not be in enough in Washington for Games 3 and 4

But John Wall (six points on 2-for-13 shooting with eight assists) played tight late, and Trevor Ariza (2-for-8) went cold. Had either played better, maybe Washington would be headed home with its second 2-0 series lead.

Instead, the Wizards must address losing on the road for the first time this postseason. That’s not their only new problem, and the other is a big one – 7-foot-2, 290-pound big.

For at least one night, Hibbert wasn’t Indiana’s problem, but plenty of issues remain for the Pacers. The Wizards, too.

He told plenty of people – including the Pacers – he planned to leave for the Lakers in the summer of 2018. Even after the Thunder traded for him, George spoke of the lure of playing for his hometown team.

Of course, George also left the door open to re-signing with Oklahoma City. He proclaimed he’d be dumb to leave if the Thunder reached the conference finals or upset the Warriors.

So far, Oklahoma City (12-14) doesn’t even look like a playoff lock, let alone a team capable of knocking off Golden State or reaching the conference finals. So, cue the inevitable speculation.

Do these executives have inside information into George’s thinking, or are they just speculating based on already-available information? Some executives are incentivized to drum up the Lakers threat, because they want to trade for George themselves now. If these executives insist George will leave for Los Angeles regardless, they might pry him from Oklahoma City for less.

There’s also a theory George is hyping his desire to sign with the Lakers so a team would have to trade less for him. That got him to the Thunder for what looked like a meager return (but hasn’t been). It might get him to a more favorable situation before the trade deadline without hampering his next team long-term. Of course, this theory isn’t mutually exclusive with George actually signing in Los Angeles. It could just get him better options to choose from this summer.

Surely, the Thunder are trying to parse all this noise. If their season doesn’t turn around, they should explore flipping George rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer. But they should also be wary that he’ll bolt for Los Angeles at first opportunity just because rival executives predict it.